Namely, state owned oil companies. The national oil companies typically do not operate strictly on the basis of market principles. Because of their close ties to the national government, in many cases their objectives might include wealth re-distribution, jobs creation, general economic development, economic and energy security, and vertical integration. Although these objectives might be desirable from the point of view of the nation’s government, they are unlikely to be equivalent to the maximization of shareholder value, the stated objective of the private international oil companies. Many of these companies have been found to be inefficient, with relatively low investment rates. They tend to exploit oil reserves for short-term gain, possibly damaging oil fields, reducing the longer term production potential. Some also have limited access to international capital markets because of poor business practices and a lack of transparency in their business deals. The evolving strength of the NOCs may affect the availability of supply in the oil market and hence security of supply. Many NOCs have stagnant or falling oil production due to civil unrest, government interference, corruption, inefficiency, and diversion of capital to social spending